Why do people put a line across the number seven when they write?

Answer 1

I was always led to believe it was so that it couldnt get mistaken for a number 1

Answer 2

When I lived in Spain my "normal" 7 was often mistaken for a number 1. They write a 1 like it is shown here (1) not just a line (l), so the 7 has a line through it (which I eventually adapted to).

Answer 3

It's French. I suppose because the number one is often written with a long top stalk similar to a seven and a line across will determine which the number is. I started doing it to copy my cousin who was slightly older than me (as opposed to the rest of my cousins who are even more older than me as I'm the baby of everyone) and therefore more sophisticated; she did it, so I did it.

Answer 4

Because people copy habits that tey see in others, and it serves some purpose for some who do-
like me.
I never did this until I was waitressing in college- and we still had the hand-written checks.
I had to write small, and people couldn't figure my one's from my seven's.
I rarely had to stop to explain once I differentiated by using the slash in the seven!

Answer 5

the point is to distinguish it from the numeral for a million. and probably from the Hebrew letter Zayin. "As is the case with the european glyph, the Cham and Khmer glyph for 7 also advanced to seem as if their glyph for a million, besides the undeniable fact that in yet in a unique way, and so that they were also worried with making their 7 more beneficial diverse. For the Khmer this regularly in contact including a horizontal line above the glyph. it is analogous to the horizontal stroke through the middle it is sometimes utilized in handwriting in the Western international yet it is almost not in any respect utilized in pc fonts. This horizontal stroke is, besides the undeniable fact that, major to distinguish the glyph for seven from the glyph for one in writings that use a lengthy upstroke in the glyph for one."

Answer 6

Most continental countries do it. It stops any confusion if the 7 is written badly with a figure 1. It is a good system and I have adopted it now for many years.

Answer 7

I must confess I do it. I understand that it is the norm in europe to avoid confussion between number 1 and 7.

Answer 8

It started on the continent - and is quite clever really, as it helps to distinguish between a 7 and a 1

Answer 9

I do that and I do it with my Z and I put a / thou my zero.....I have always done it....that way ....and I am many generations from being European ...one of my brothers does it to....but not the other 3....thinks its just depends on the person.....I got fired from a temp job once a few years ago....because I did that with my numbers.....they were doing inventory and didn't want that......

Answer 10

A possibility is that it differentiates it from the French/German/European way of writing '1', which they write quite expansively! I think it looks a lot more like our '7'!!

Answer 11

In the early years of computers they were crude, and couldn't recognize certain characters.
7 with the bar was created so the machine could seperate 7 from letters l And i. Silly people continue using it because schools taught it that way.